‘In the summer you can eat out on the terrace overlooking the whole of Rome. It’s quite magnificent.’
‘Really?’ Kate murmured distractedly. ‘I’m sorry I won’t be here to see it …‘All the thoughts whirling through her head were making her careless.
CHAPTER EIGHT
OF COURSE it wasn’t just cheese and biscuits from a supermarket shelf; the waiters brought them fresh crunchy bread, succulent green olives, and a selection of fine cheeses that would have put Paxton & Whitfield, the great London cheese shop, to shame.
Kate had to keep reminding herself to remain guarded when Santino began to share some behind-the-scenes facts with her, allowing her a brief glimpse of the man beneath the driven entrepreneur. In spite of all her self-imposed warnings she was starting to relax, even starting to like him, but that didn’t mean she judged it the right time to tell him about Francesca. She needed a lot more reassurance before she could bring herself to do that.
‘So, tell me about your life in England …’
She should have known, Kate realised. Santino hadn’t risen to the top of the tree without good reason. This was how he nailed a deal … he softened up the opposition before going in for the kill. But she was ready for him. ‘As you know, I work at the agency that handles Caddy—’
‘Worked, past tense, if I had my way. Go on.’
‘I use a small apartment in town on the odd occasions when I’m forced to work late.’
‘And when you’re not working late?’
She really had his attention now, Kate thought as Santino leaned towards her. ‘I live with Aunt Meredith and Caddy in the country—when Caddy’s there, of course.’ She thought he looked pleased by her answer, and maybe a little more than that. Her heart raced furiously as he stared at her.
‘You live with Cordelia and her mother?’ Santino’s dark eyes were probing her deepest thoughts, warning Kate to take care with her answer.
‘Yes, I do.’
‘So what’s your marital status?’
‘What’s yours?’ she flung back at him, totally thrown.
‘That’s a very personal question.’ Santino held her gaze.
‘And yours wasn’t?’
‘My question was directed at a prospective employee.’
Kate’s cheeks fired up with embarrassment. She had walked straight into the trap Santino had laid for her. ‘I’m single and happy to remain so.’
‘Defensive too.’
‘Not at all; I’m just happy the way I am. My life is full. I don’t need a man to define me—’
She was just getting into her stride when Santino’s phone rang.
‘Will you excuse me?’ He was already on his feet, frowning at the interruption.
‘Go right ahead.’ Kate could hardly hide her relief as Santino walked away. She was keen to learn more about him, but when the tables were turned her mouth ran away with her. She didn’t want to lie to him, but she was nowhere near ready to tell him the truth … any of it.
Santino was smiling when he returned to the table.
‘Good news?’ Kate was beginning to hope he had been called away. She needed some time alone to review her tactics if she wasn’t going to make a mess of telling him about Francesca.
‘I think it’s good news,’ he said, ‘and I hope you agree. Our new director has arrived ahead of schedule.’
‘But that’s excellent news.’ And the best reason yet to put the distance she needed to think clearly between them. Kate started to her feet. ‘We should get back.’
‘You’re in a hurry to leave.’
There was a warning note in Santino’s voice, which warned Kate to relax. She made a point of settling back in her chair. ‘Not at all, I just thought—’
‘We’re not going back to the studio,’ Santino cut across her. ‘There’s a little restaurant higher up the valley where it’s become a tradition for the studio to hold a welcome party at the start of each new project.’
‘And with a new director starting it’s a new project.’
‘Exactly.’
The tension started to flow out of her. It wasn’t ideal, it wasn’t the solitude she had hoped for, but with people around them at a party she would be safe, because there would be no opportunity for Santino to ask her the type of penetrating questions she was sure he was leading up to.
‘You have two possibilities,’ he informed her, pulling out his mobile. ‘I can take you back to the hotel and you can travel with the cast and crew, or you can come to the restaurant with me …’
His casual tone suggested he didn’t care one way or the other what she did.
Kate hid her disappointment. Santino was giving her the option to back out. She should be grateful and take him up on it. What would it look like to the crew and cast if she arrived with him? She should bring this dangerous encounter to an end right now. If she didn’t she would be cooped up with Santino in the tiny cabin of a sports car, finding him infinitely more attractive than she had on the first day they met. The one thing she couldn’t do was take the risk of falling for Santino all over again. She couldn’t take the risk of losing her heart to a man she knew nothing about, a man whose life was a total mystery to her apart from the obvious power and wealth he wielded. What she should do was go back to the hotel and travel to the party on the coach like everyone else. ‘I should be there …’
‘Where? Where should you be, Kate?’ Santino pressed.
There was something in his eyes Kate recognised, and it made her heart beat faster. ‘I should be with you,’ she murmured. ‘As Caddy’s representative.’ The words blundered out as reality streamed back into her thinking. ‘And as your temporary assistant it would be appropriate for us to greet Diane Fox together,’ she said, quickly composing herself.
‘My thoughts exactly.’ He was breaking down the barriers one by one. He would get to the truth about Kate’s personal life however long it took. He had come round to thinking that there must be some pain in her past that made it hard for her to open up. No one understood that sort of thing better than he did, but that didn’t mean he had any intention of softening towards her.
The moment they settled down in the car sexual tension started snapping between them. He could understand that people might change over five years, but it was harder to understand what game Kate was playing.
‘That’s better,’ he said lightly when she smiled. He judged any reaction better than none.
‘Better?’
‘Better than seeing you looking so anxious …’ He turned up the charm with an indulgent smile. ‘You’ll have me thinking you’re hiding something.’
The expression that came into her eyes now warned him to back off, but that wasn’t in his nature. ‘You should relax and have fun while you can. It wouldn’t hurt you.’
‘What kind of fun?’
He eased his shoulders in a shrug. ‘Innocent fun … Something tells me you don’t have enough of it.’ While he was speaking he punched in some numbers on his phone. ‘I’m going to call the coach company before we leave here to tell the driver to take everyone straight to the restaurant. We’ll all arrive around the same time if they leave now …’
Speaking rapidly in Italian, Santino